The world's largest maker of elevators and air conditioners,which has a $71.88 billion market value, also plans to spendabout $1 billion on acquisitions in 2013, primarily small deals.

"Big deals, in my view, are done at UTC," Chenevert said.The company had halted share buybacks this year as it focused onfinancing its $16.5 billion takeover of aerospace componentsmaker Goodrich Corp. That deal closed in July.

Chenevert said U.S. sales of residential air conditionershad been weaker than the company had expected this year, giventhe unusually hot summer weather that prevailed across much ofthe nation. He said demand in Europe was expected to remain weakfor the next two to three years.

"Europe is challenging, and China is slower growth than weexpected," he said.

United Tech shares gained 49 cents to $79.32 in morningtrading on the New York Stock Exchange.